ArmInfo. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures sent a letter to the Tian Erlun, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the RA, in connection with the situation related to the departure of the Chinese company Sinohydro, which is a contractor in the North-South construction project. This was announced on May 6 by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan during questions and answers in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
<I hope that soon we will be able to see the Ambassador. We need to know about the possibilities and timing of the return of the contractor to Armenia>, he said.
According to the minister, the pandemic exacerbated the situation, and the problems will grow every day. In this regard, Papikyan noted that there was a joint agenda with Chinese partners, in addition, the issue of additional work was discussed.
"The Government of Armenia attaches importance to the timing of the North-South project, and if our Chinese partners cannot return, we should discuss with them other options for resolving the situation," he stressed.
Recall that the construction of the entire 556-kilometer North-South highway, which stretches from Bavra (the Armenian-Georgian border) to Meghri (the Armenian-Iranian border), is estimated at more than $ 2 billion. The construction of the corridor was originally planned to be completed in 2019, however now the deadlines are postponed for another 7-10 years.
Under the North-South program, the Armenian government calculated the preliminary savings of $ 2.5 per hour for each passenger and $ 1 per hour for the transportation of a ton of cargo. As the Armenian authorities expect, the program will allow the country to mitigate the consequences of the blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey in the future, play the role of a transit state in the cargo transportation of the countries of the region, as well as join the Black Sea ring highway.
